Monday, May 02, 2011

New Orleans Character Watch: Weedwacker Bicycle Man

So I've seen this guy a couple times now around town. He rides a weedwacker powered motorcycle. And I dont' mean he's rigged up his bike with a little two-cycle engine. I mean he's actually rigged the whole thing up to a weedwacker which he holds out to the side in his right hand, gripping the throttle, with the the spinny part (the spin-a-majiggy, the rotor?) somehow attached to the back wheel. Gentle squeeze the throttle: little bit of speed. Squeeze it hard: wheeeeeeeeeee-yeeeeeeeeeeee! (Both times were actually going uphill—on overpasses, pretty much the only inclines we've got in our otherwise pancake-flat terrain—so clearly the things got enough power to get the job done.) And to add a bit of weirdness to the already plenty-weird spectacle, he's got a blinking Jason-style hockey goalie mask rigged up to the handlebars on the front. Now that's personality. (And some weird outside-the-box kind of innovation. Maybe the venture capitalists should be scoping this guy out: Here's some seed money. Surprise me!)